September 27th, 2005 - Granada, Spain
I was leaving the Royal Chapel and about to return to my hotel when suddenly I heard coming from one of the tiny alley-ways that criss-cross the area around the cathedral the most piercing, anguished cry I had ever heard in my life. Immediately, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.
It took me a couple of minutes to locate the source of the cry : the man in the green tee-shirt, white socks and cap in the photograph above. Together with his guitarist friend - a quite superb flamenco virtuoso who turned out, curiously, to be not Spanish but Italian - he was performing the unique Andalusian song form known as "cante jondo", best known outside Spain through the works of Manuel de Falla and Federico Garcia Lorca, who described it as follows :
"The cante jondo approaches the rhythm of the birds and the natural music of the black poplar and the waves; it is simple in oldness and style. It is also a rare example of primitive song, the oldest of all Europe, where the ruins of history, the lyrical fragment eaten by the sand, appear live like the first morning of its life."
For almost an hour the pair performed - watched throughout by the gorgeous couple seen holding hands here - with an intensity and purety of emotional expression that I have never heard before or since. It was quite simply one of the most remarkable moments of my life.
When finally their performance ended - the singer simply stopped in the middle of a song, took a huge swig from the bottle he had carefully hidden in a doorway and marched off down the street - I spoke with the guitarist, who spoke more than passable English. Naturally, I asked him about his partner. "He is gone now," he said. "He will be back one day soon. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after." Then, after pausing for a moment in order to be sure of finding just the right words, he added, "He is mad. Not a little mad, you understand, but very mad indeed. But he is harmless."
I'm proud and flattered to say that this image has been included, alongside work by some truly outstanding street photographers, amongst "60 Incredible Street Photos" in the section The Beauty of Street Photography in Smashing Magazine.
pante rei, felizp, toobig4pond, and 31 other people added this photo to their favorites.
pante rei 71 months ago | reply
thanks for sharing the story..
archispazio2 70 months ago | reply
la vita nella strada... cartier bresson.... bravo!
emiliocamarin 69 months ago | reply
buenísima la foto.gracias.emilio
felizp 67 months ago | reply
love the story and the photograph. :) amazing.
biLLy GoMeZ 64 months ago | reply
great story, great moment. you did the work of a true documentarian.
The Ballad Of The Lonely Masturbator 56 months ago | reply
cool
ttilmo 55 months ago | reply
Hi
Just came across your photography in a post made by Smashing magazine. I just wanted to say that i loved your images. i too am a urban photographer and just wanted to let you know about my website where I am trying to promote urban photography etc. If you would like to take a look at my site and submit any of your work to help contribute to the site it would be most appreciated and I know that your images would help to inspire others.
there are many different areas on the site where you can contribute.
Any way I hope you drop by and take a look at my site it is at www.urban-photography-art.com
Divaladiva.. 55 months ago | reply
very nice
ruurdz 55 months ago | reply
Beautiful! In a dance we may go nuts. Nothing to crazy.
kaveen85 53 months ago | reply
oh boy....I love this pic
Abril. . 51 months ago | reply
que momento, se puede sentir desde aqui.... me dan ganas de ir allá ahora mismo, pero ningun momento es igual a otro.
Muy buena foto, muy buena galeria tienes :)
Saludos
Haneen Krimly [deleted] 40 months ago | reply
Featured in my blog: junkiee.net/showcase/60-beautiful-music-photographs-for-i...